Jim Brazeau is in his 13th season at the helm of Pacific men’s soccer program. He has brought the Boxers back to being a regular top division contender among Northwest Conference programs and has collected five straight years of winning records.
The 2010 campaign produced a landmark season as the Boxers were the Northwest Conference Champions for the first time since 1996 and competed in the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the first time since 1998. The defensive-minded team led by nine seniors, who have accumulated a record of 46-19-11 in the past four seasons, shutout opponents on 11 occasions and went undefeated on home turf at Lincoln Park Stadium.
Brazeau has coached 11 players to First Team All-Northwest Conference honors, including goalkeeper Andrew Stevermer, who was selected as NWC Defensive Player of the year for the past two seasons. A total of seven Boxers made the 2010 All-NWC squad. In all, Pacific has garnered 40 all-conference selections under Brazeau.
The former Pacific goalkeeper’s road to success began in earnest in 2006, when the Boxers recovered from a 2-15-1 record the year before to finish with a 10-6-1 mark. It was the team’s best record since 1996 and ranked the Boxers as the most improved team in NCAA Division III soccer. The effort earned Brazeau NWC Coach of the Year honors and forward Matt McDonough the conference offensive player of the year award.
In 2007, Brazeau led a young Pacific team that featured 19 underclassmen to a respectable 8-7-2 record, slipping just two wins from the 2006 season that featured eight seniors. The Boxers’ fourth place finish in the 2007 NWC standings was the team’s best finish since 1999.
The progress of the Pacific program continued into the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Brazeau’s troops put up a 10-6-4 record together in 2008 to finish fifth in the NWC. 2009 showed more growth, the Boxers finished third in the NWC and a 14-3-3 record, the best since 1996.
The Boxers’ rise is no surprise for Brazeau, who narrowed his focus to coaching only the men’s team in 2006 after leading both the men’s and women’s programs for four seasons.
Under Brazeau’s tutelage in 2003, the Pacific women’s soccer team accomplished the best year in school history. The team’s 11-8-2 was the first winning record since 1999 and set a record for wins in a season. The Boxers also succeeded in tying records for both goals and assists in match.
Brazeau’s coaching resume includes over 18 years of success coaching players at nearly every level of the game. In conjunction with his Pacific duties, Brazeau was the goalkeepers coach for the Portland Timbers of the United Soccer Leagues’ First Division for seven seasons. He also serves as the director of coaching for the Willamette United Soccer Club.
Prior to Pacific, Brazeau served as a head coach at Portland Community College and for the Oregon Youth Development Program. He has been an assistant for both Oregon State University and Jesuit High School in Portland and has served on the coaching staff with the F.C. Portland Academy.
As head of the Boxer soccer program, Brazeau’s goal is to provide a quality playing experience while building quality individuals. “We have to continue building the program to a more competitive position,” he said. “The goal has to be to build a quality program by giving our students the best possible learning environment and prepare them for competition.”
Brazeau played two seasons for the Boxers as a defender, helping the team to the NAIA District II championship in 1986. He followed former Boxer head coach Jimmy Conway to Oregon State where he played one season as a goalkeeper, earning all-conference honors.
After leaving Corvallis, Brazeau spent six years as a professional player for the Seattle Storm outdoor team and the Washington Warthogs and Portland Pride indoor sides. As a goalie with the Pride, Brazeau was responsible for the first shutout in the history of the Continental Indoor Soccer League.
A native of Seattle, Brazeau and his wife, Wendy have a son, Chris, and a daughter, Chloe, and reside in Portland.
